While Red Kites were still rare, the Welsh Kite Trust attempted to monitor all breeding sites.
When the success of conservation efforts made this impossible, in 2013, it was decided to
monitor a sample. Nest finding, and checking outcomes, has been carried out continuously
since 2014 in five 10km squares near Brecon, and in the northern part of Radnorshire (about
360 sq.kms.).

As the range and population has continued to expand, the Trust is keen to increase the
number of sample surveys carried out each year. Although Kites are currently doing well, there
is no guarantee that this will always be the case, and Avian Influenza is a current threat.

Volunteers would take on a specific area, which might be a county or part county, or a discrete
landscape feature, or one or more 10-km squares. Visits would be made in late March and the
first half of April, to find nests and confirm that incubation has started, then again towards the
end of June, to establish the outcome (including a count of chicks about to fledge, wherever
possible). Nest finding is best carried out by driving around the minor roads, and vantage
point surveys, to observe pairs and displaying birds, then walking into the appropriate
woodlands and copses to locate the nests. If you’re eligible for a Young Conservationist’s Bursary, then there’s some financial help for volunteers available.

The timing of the survey means that you could double the first part of it up with the WOS All Wales Rook Survey! For further details and how to get involved click here.